Field
This disclosure relates to wireless energy transfer, methods, systems and apparati to accomplish such transfer, and applications.
Description of the Related Art
Energy or power may be transferred wirelessly using a variety of techniques as detailed, for example, in commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/789,611 published on Sep. 23, 2010 as U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2010/0237709 and entitled “RESONATOR ARRAYS FOR WIRELESS ENERGY TRANSFER,” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/722,050 published on Jul. 22, 2010 as U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2010/0181843 and entitled “WIRELESS ENERGY TRANSFER FOR REFRIGERATOR APPLICATION,” U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/530,495 filed on Sep. 2, 2011 and entitled “RESONATOR ENCLOSURE,” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/603,002 published on Mar. 7, 2013 as U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2013/0057364 and entitled “RESONATOR ENCLOSURE,” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/770,137 published on Nov. 4, 2010 as U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2010/0277121 and entitled “WIRELESS ENERGY TRANSFER BETWEEN A SOURCE AND A DEVICE,” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/899,281 published Mar. 31, 2011 as U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2011/0074346 and entitled “VEHICLE CHARGER SAFETY SYSTEM AND METHOD,” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/536,435 published on Dec. 13, 2012 as U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2012/0313742 and entitled “COMPACT RESONATORS FOR WIRELESS ENERGY TRANSFER IN VEHICLE,” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/608,956 published on Mar. 21, 2013 as U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2013/0069441 and entitled “FOREIGN OBJECT DETECTION IN WIRELESS ENERGY TRANSFER SYSTEMS,” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/612,494 published Mar. 14, 2013 as U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2013/0062966 and entitled “RECONFIGURABLE CONTROL ARCHITECTURES AND ALGORITHMS FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE WIRELESS ENERGY TRANSFER SYSTEMS,” and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/275,127 published May 17, 2012 as U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2012/0119569 and entitled “MULTI-RESONATOR WIRELESS ENERGY TRANSFER INSIDE VEHICLES,” the contents of which are incorporated in their entirety as if fully set forth herein.
One challenge in wireless energy transfer systems is robust and practical packaging or enclosures of resonators, coils, and other wireless energy transfer components. Proper packaging of resonators and coils is crucial for resonators and coils in vehicle and high power applications. Enclosures need to manage thermal loads and provide proper cooling for internal components, provide enough mechanical stability to prevent changes in parameters of coils, add minimal size to the overall size of the coil, provide weather resistance, and the like. Accomplishing all these requirements in a small package with minimal z-height of the enclosure is extremely challenging.
Therefore a need exists for methods and designs for coil and resonator enclosures with that add minimal size to the overall size while providing the necessary thermal, structural, and environmental capabilities.